Charges dropped against disbarred 'Erin Brockovich' lawyer Tom Girardi in Illinois
Attorney Tom Girardi is pictured outside a Los Angeles courthouse in July 2014. (Photo by Damian Dovarganes/The Associated Press)
A federal judge in Chicago has granted the government’s motion to dismiss pending client-theft charges against disbarred lawyer Tom Girardi in Illinois following his wire fraud conviction in California.
U.S. District Judge Mary M. Rowland of the Northern District of Illinois granted the dismissal in a May 15 order, report Law360, Reuters, Bloomberg Law and Law.com.
The tossed indictment had accused Girardi of the now-collapsed Girardi Keese law firm in Los Angeles of stealing more than $3 million in settlement money from five relatives of victims killed in the October 2018 crash of Indonesia’s Lion Air Flight 610.
In California, Girardi was convicted of wire fraud in August 2024 for stealing $15 million from four clients over the course of a decade. In a May 14 motion to dismiss the Illinois indictment against Girardi, federal prosecutors noted the California conviction and added that Girardi “is turning 86 years old within the next month.”
Girardi remains hospitalized after his admission May 7 for liver dysfunction, according to Law.com.
Girardi is famous for his legal team’s portrayal in the movie Erin Brockovich and for his marriage to Erika Girardi, who has appeared on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills reality TV show.
Also charged in the Illinois case are former Girardi Keese chief financial officer Christopher K. Kamon and former Girardi Keese lawyer David R. Lira, who is Girardi’s son-in-law.
Kamon reached a plea deal in the California case in October 2024 in which he acknowledged working with Girardi to defraud clients and participating in a “side fraud” involving fraudulent invoices. He was sentenced to more than 10 years in prison. He is also expected to plead guilty in the Illinois case, according to the prosecution motion to dismiss.
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